In the world of heavy machinery, family connections are common. But Samantha Ruttura’s story stands out.
The President and co-owner of Our Rental Pumps, a New York-based firm that specializes in equipment rentals and concrete placement, Samantha has concrete in her DNA.
“I grew up in a construction family. My dad’s contracting company is over 100 years old,” she said. “I tried to work outside of the industry but kept coming back to it. I knew I didn’t want to work for my dad, since I wouldn’t have had a clear role within his company. By starting Our Rental Pumps, I was able to build a name for myself in an industry my family was always part of.”
In 2011, she launched Our Rental Pumps, which serves the New York Tri-State Area with rentals of concrete pumps for jobs of all sizes. “At that time,” she said, “we were renting pumps exclusively, but since then we’ve expanded into other machines.”
Samantha notes while historically construction has been a male-dominated industry, there are many women building a name for themselves within the industry. “I love supporting customers with the best equipment and service available for their project,” she said. “As a WBE-certified company, we are an added asset to help customers meet their Minority & Women’s Business Development utilization goals. I’m proud of the business I have grown over the last 12 years and am excited to see our continued growth and expansions.”
While Our Rental is a small company (its employees number around ten), the company serves the enormous needs of New York City and has contributed to iconic structures and systems. Former clients include Citi Field Stadium and Grand Central Madison station.
“We have a large fleet of equipment and concrete pumps,” Samantha said. “Each manufacturer and size of machine has its own benefits, and we offer everything from a small trailer pump up to a SCHWING 65 Meter.”
She added, “I am very strategic in what I add to the fleet in order to support the projects we are working on. At this point, SCHWING equipment is the majority of our fleet. You can find our SCHWING equipment on major New York projects – schools, arenas, bridges, subway tunnels. These machines have helped create a lot of satisfied customers, and served millions of people who use those facilities.”
These days, Samantha is busy with some very large assignments, including playing a role in the $18 billion redevelopment of JFK International Airport. Another major effort involves strengthening the Lower East Side of Manhattan’s protection from hurricanes and other storms for the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Project.
“We also did the new Islanders stadium,” Samantha said, referring to UBS Arena, home of the NHL’s New York Islanders, which opened its doors to the public in 2021. “We used a lot of SCHWING machines for that project. SCHWING Loop Belts were used early in the project for the site work. Various sizes were a part of the overall construction, and the SCHWING 58-Meter placed the hockey rink.”
One of her favorite projects was Little Island at Pier 55, which also opened in 2021. “It’s a floating island park with an amphitheater that sits over a hundred concrete ‘tulips’ rising out of the Hudson River,” Samantha said, whose machines were on site supporting many different contractors through the duration of the project.
“It’s turned out to be a really magical place,” she added. “One of the most rewarding parts of what we do is being able to look back on these projects and know we have been a part of building a small piece of New York City history.”
